It wasn’t until the clan leaders of various clans came forward and made a sincere appeal that Choi Yeonseung’s doubts were dispelled.
“So let me get this straight… You don’t serve constellations, and those of you who do are directly disobeying their orders… You’re also disobeying the orders of the US government… All of this just to help me? Why…?
“…”
The clan leaders turned sullen after Choi Yeonseung pointed everything out in detail. Hearing all the ways in which they were disobeying orders gave them a wake-up call.
…Were they making a mistake?
“In any case, thank you for coming to my aid,” continued Choi Yeonseung.
“T-thank you. We thought you’d step up because you have strong convictions.”
“Same here.”
Under these circumstances, a clan leader couldn’t make such a decision by themselves. It was only possible if the majority of the clan members were also on board.
The reason why the hunters agreed to help Choi Yeonseung wasn’t just because he had saved their lives this time. Most of them were either directly beholden to him, or someone they knew had received help from him.
Soon, all the hunters at the scene realized that they were all here for the same reason. They were briefly touched by this sense of unity.
The world of hunters was indeed ruthless, most hunters being out there for themselves, but there was still a warm ray of hope left.
“You came to help just for that reason? I’m not sure if I should say this, but… Aren’t you running your clans too rashly?”
“Um, Hunter Choi Yeonseung, these mortals have come to help, so I think it would be better to just let them join…”
Adaquaniel stepped up and stopped Choi Yeonseung from ruining this.
Hearing that, the hunters looked even more irritated.
***
“Dwarves.”
The constellations didn’t proceed with the raid with only human household members. These beings still considered humans to be too young and inexperienced, so they had a hard time trusting them completely.
Furthermore, once a constellation came into the main scene, they had to properly exhibit their powers. The hunters that were currently in the Second Realm were quite capable on Earth, so it was very important for the constellation to hold onto their faith.
-I guess this one is the household member of the Monk Pursuing Glory.
The blindfolded dwarf exuded a fierce aura. Not much was known about him due to the power of the constellation, but he was certainly stronger than the A-grade hunters here.
‘That centaur must be the household member of the Humble One-Eyed Archer.’
-The constellations must be looking forward to this raid.
“Wait,” someone said, not in a human voice, but in a voice that had the distinctive quality of Abyssal races.
“?”
“I’m sorry, but my master won’t accept any more household members. Please step back.”
“B-but…”
“What’s going on?”
Choi Yeonseung approached with a puzzled expression.
The blindfolded dwarf greeted him politely.
“Most household members of other constellations want to participate, so I was trying to stop them, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”
There was a reason the dwarf said that. There was nothing good about receiving a constellation’s household member who wasn’t powerful. They would take up the rewards without really contributing to the fight!
The household member who had just shown up was weak enough for the dwarf to speak up about this. They were around level 150 at best. On Earth, that was the equivalent for a C-grade hunter.
‘Is it the fairy race?’
The fairy, who was smaller than a dwarf, was completely flustered and averted her gaze embarrassingly.
“Which constellation does this fairy serve?”
“The… The Chef of Endless Gluttony! If you give me a chance, I will treat the heroes present!”
At these words, the dwarf frowned.
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung. You’d better not believe in that household member. As my master has said, the Chef of Endless Gluttony isn’t very capable.”
‘Well, he’s not wrong…’
Choi Yeonseung had met the Chef of Endless Gluttony in person, so he had to agree. Even though ‘Chef’ was in his name, his cooking left a lot to be desired… Of course, it couldn’t be helped since he was a weak constellation with little power of existence and no territory…
If the constellation was weak, their household members would also be treated as such.
The werewolf walking in the rear heard the conversation and came up to them. Weirdly enough, the werewolf was holding a plate full of all kinds of deserts from Earth.
Anyone could see that he was the household member of the Endless Gourmet Seeker.
“The household member of the Chef of Endless Gluttony! Even the most trivial chefs on Earth are better than you, right?” sneered the werewolf.
“I’m about to send her back now, so there is no need for you to get involved,” the dwarf complained.
“Well, I’m here because you wouldn’t be able to send her away. Don’t you see that Hunter Choi Yeonseung is bothered? Your trying to be kind will only be troublesome to him. Sometimes you need to be blunt! Get out of here, fairy! I’ll eat you as one of my meals!”
“!!”
The fairy was completely terrified, but Choi Yeonseung stepped in and held out a hand in between them.
“Stop. I have prepared for this raid. I’m not going to refuse any help, so don’t meddle too much.”
“But Hunter Choi Yeonseung, the household member of an unworthy constellation will only tarnish your master’s glory!” the dwarf exclaimed incredulously.
He had a good point, but Choi Yeonseung didn’t budge.
‘That’s true, but… I’m concerned about my vision.’
Choi Yeonseung thought back on the vision he had seen ahead of this raid. The part where hunters would fight with golems in the future was plausible, but he couldn’t understand the appearance of the Chef of Endless Gluttony.
It was hard to believe that a weak constellation who couldn’t fight properly would reveal himself while strong constellations were engaging in combat.
‘I’d rather keep an eye on her.’
Choi Yeonseung intended to keep the chef constellation’s household member by his side and watch over her. If something unusual happened, she would show her true colors.
“Even if it means sharing a bit of glory, we need more power to actually succeed. If I reject everyone who comes to help because they’re a bit weak, I might not be able to receive the best ones.”
“Well, if you put it that way…”
The dwarf backed down while stroking his beard. He still wasn’t convinced, but he agreed out of respect for Choi Yeonseung’s position.
However, Golodat, the werewolf, cried out to the dwarf, “Uldurg, you think too much! If Hunter Choi Yeonseung wants to do it, just let him do it.”
“?”
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. This werewolf seemed quite belligerent by nature, but he agreed with his decision surprisingly fast.
‘What? Does he have any ulterior motives?’
“I was just giving advice.”
“Okay, stop it and go,” replied the werewolf while winking at Choi Yeonseung.
The goddess of sloth was bewildered by the sight.
-I don’t know what it is, but there’s something weird and unpleasant about the atmosphere.
-I think so too.
After the dwarf left, the werewolf approached Choi Yeonseung and said, “You said that very well. That’s right. You’re the leader of this group, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. You don’t have to listen to those annoying dwarves.”
“I appreciate your support.”
“So… Uhm, I helped you, didn’t I?”
“…”
It was ridiculous that the werewolf bragged about helping when he hadn’t actually done much, but Choi Yeonseung decided to go along with it so as to see what he wanted to say.
“I’ve heard that you’re a really good cook…”
Before he knew it, a puddle of saliva had formed at the werewolf’s feet. Golodat was drooling without even bothering to hide it.
“There’s this wonderful beast meat that I procured two months ago. Can you cook it for me? I’ll pay you a good price…”
“…I’ll do that,” Choi Yeonseung replied reluctantly, suppressing his embarrassment.
‘It seems like a lot of household members have a screw loose.’
-Sanity is rather rare in the Abyss.
***
Choi Yeonseung took out his adamantium frying pan for the first time in a while. At the sight of the gorgeous equipment, the fairy next to him watched with admiration and envy.
“To have this type of equipment… Your master must think very highly of you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung.”
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is delighted.]
The cat constellation was overjoyed to hear praise for the equipment it had crafted. Of course, the fairy didn’t hear it, but…
“It’s not like that. Aren’t you the chef constellation’s household member? I would like to see what you can do,” Choi Yeonseung proposed to the fairy.
Since he had to keep her nearby and monitor her, he needed to find out a bit about her.
“Yes! Leave it to me!”
“Then would you like to try cooking with the ingredients here?”
These days, cooking was like heaven compared to when he had first come to Earth and had to cook only with ingredients from Earth. Now he could use all kinds of ingredients from the orcs’ farm to his heart’s content.
The fairy was almost stunned when she saw the multitude of ingredients Choi Yeonseung laid out.
“Oh… I can use all of this?!”
“Of course.”
Choi Yeonseung sprinkled the salt and pepper from the orcs on top of the thick chunks of meat to let them soak in. He then drizzled the oil made by the orcs on the frying pan.
The meat that the werewolf had brought with him was rather high-quality for Abyssal standards, and the spices made by the orcs were the best out there.
In this case, it was enough to grill the meat.
Choi Yeonseung had been cooking weird foods in the Abyss, which many would consider inedible, for as long as he could remember. Therefore, it was so easy to cook only with luxurious ingredients that he even yawned.
After adding the minced garlic and butter, the dish was ready. The fairy watched Choi Yeonseung with an ecstatic expression.
“I’m done. What about you?”
“I did my best to prepare this dish!” exclaimed the fairy as she flapped her small wings.
Choi Yeonseung shifted his gaze.
‘Oh, this is okay, isn’t it?’
Given that he was an advanced chef, Choi Yeonseung could tell the level of the dish as soon as he saw it. The fairy had made a carpaccio salad mixed with raw meat and vegetables.
It was a simple dish where the meat was thinly cut and mixed with sliced mushrooms and cheese. However, the dish was abundant in magic power, which made it pretty sophisticated.
No one would look at it and say that it wasn’t a good dish.
“How great.”
“N-no! It’s thanks to the ingredients you’ve kindly given me…”
“Doesn’t the chef constellation give you ingredients?”
“…”
Instead of answering, the fairy averted her gaze, which was enough to answer his question.
‘She’s suffering because she’s following the wrong constellation.’
-I also know such household members.
The goddess of sloth looked at Choi Yeonseung as she said that. All the other constellations except the goddess of balance nodded.
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled.
-Is there another household like that?
-…No…
“It’s good, but there’s too little of it… Ah. Did you make it to fit your size because you are a fairy?”
“No, it’s because I have gotten into the habit of saving up ingredients…”
“…”
Choi Yeonseung didn’t ask anything else. He would just end up hurting her.
***
“It’s great!”
“Not only is it delicious, but it’s also very powerful. It’s an outstanding dish!”
Since there was a considerable amount of food, Choi Yeonseung called the constellations’ household members separately and served them.
Golodat glared at the other household members, his eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and hatred. However, they disregarded his angry look and kept eating their food.
Earth’s hunters had little chance to enjoy the gourmet food of the Abyss, so they realized how great it was only after trying it. Meanwhile, the household members from the Abyss could’ve told them that it was a great dish just by looking at it.
How could the hunters not be happy when the cook put the utmost care into everything, from the ingredients to the cooking itself?
The dwarf, Uldurg, wiped his mouth in a dignified manner and said, “Did Hunter Choi Yeonseung make this too? I’ll try this one as well…”
“No, the household member of the Chef of Endless Gluttony made this one.”
The moment the household members heard this, they gently pushed the salad away from them.
